Awesome Books - First Art

I discovered this book browsing on Amazon...I can't remember what, exactly, I was shopping for that it came up in my recommendations, but I'm happy that I clicked the link and even happier to borrow it from the library.

This book is chock-full of great ideas. All of the suggestions are given a messiness rating and almost everything can be done with items you probably already have. There are recipes for multiple kinds of play clay, paint, and other entertaining and creative goops. There are so many ideas in here for process-oriented art making that we could get to kindergarten. The author helpfully explains what the child will learn from the activity, ways to adapt it to the children at hand, and keeps the supplies largely limited to things that are easy to find and non-toxic.

The first thing we tried was water painting. It seemed too easy. A bucket 1/4 full of water and a paint brush. Really? Really. Entertained him for a looong time. For days, he demanded to play the "new game". And since it was so hot when we did this, the water evaporated quickly. Clean slate every few minutes!

Of course, the inevitable happened:

But so what? It was just a little water and he and I had fun making wet footprints from the puddle. I think even the most mess-phobic mamas can enjoy this one.

We also tired an aluminum foil activity that was a fail. I was to inspired to buy him an enormous newsprint pad with my Michael's coupon and that has also been a huge hit. That's the other great thing about these projects. Because they are about the process and not the product, the activities can be done for extended periods of time or repeated day after day.

If parents could give parent gifts rather than Melissa and Doug puzzles at birthday parties, I would be giving this book to anyone with a toddler. This book, and a bottle of wine. : )

Book a Month in 2010!

I love New Year's resolutions. They're like makeovers. They're irresistible.
"I am going to make a sweeping change that will drastically improve ______". This year, I would like to drastically improve my brain.
Pregnancy rendered me incapable of completing a thought. Mommyhood has me speaking Parentese more than English - and I teach English as a second language for a living.

So, this year, I will read a new book a month. Books I've read in the past can't be re-read, but other works by previously read authors are acceptable.

I started with The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell.

This is technically my buffer book, since I started it in December and finished it in very early January. (Yes, buffer books are allowed, I'm not going to set myself up for failure.) I live in a house divided over fiction and non-fiction. This was my husband's book that I picked up while nursing and I couldn't put it down.

It is a fascinating look at what causes trends, epidemics, and other large scale changes in our world. The book is written in a very accessible style and Gladwell illustrates his point with intriguing real world examples, like the story of Sesame Street's success or how STDs spread through cities.
Even though I finished it a month ago, I find myself still thinking about it. Which, with so many grabs for my attention these days, I find that a high compliment.

The official selection for January was The Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon. I picked it because it was on an endcap near the cash register at B&N and I read a couple of pages while waiting to check out. (Clearly, my book choices are well researched. Does reading a book just because it's there make me a book slut? I digress.)

This is Chabon's first novel. On the cover, someone makes a bold statement comparing it to The Catcher in the Rye. Ordinarily, such claims would cause me to roll my eyes and move on, but I'd already read a few pages, and you know, it was...there. And, I've read two other Chabon books and enjoyed them thoroughly so I figured I'd overlook the Catcher in the Rye thing and give it a shot.

I'm glad I did. The writing is beautiful. It's the kind of writing you want to lose a Saturday to. Unfortunately, I never got to do that, but I did finish before the end of January.

It's an unique coming of age story that I didn't identify at all with. Our protagonist is a recent college grad, circa the late 80's. He's staring down some huge coming of age questions, such as, "How do I reconcile my childhood with what I want my adulthood to be? What do I want my adulthood to be? Do I like girls or boys?"

In the late 80's I was first grade girl who liked a particular big-eared boy in her Sunday school class. In college, I was a philosophy minor so by the time I graduated I was over the whole meaning of life thing. The drinking though, I could identify with the drinking in the book.

While I was reading, I kept thinking that The Mysteries of Pittsburgh would make a great movie. Lo and behold, someone beat me to it and it came out on the big screen in 2008.



I haven't seen the movie version, but from the trailer it looks like the original story has been heavily reworked. Have to be honest, I doubt I will rent it.

If you've made it this far, congratulations. It's been a long post. But it's been a while and the baby was asleep, so I sized the moment. I hope everyone else's resolutions are going as enjoyably as mine!

Stalker's Anthem

*A Kurt Halsey drawing, stolen from Google*

The new Death Cab for Cutie song, "I Will Possess Your Heart" is the best stalker song since Sting's "I'll Be Watching You".

The Death Cab lyrics tell of a desperate, needy, emotional creepiness. (Also a grandiose need to make the beginning of the song 5 minutes of mostly instrumental dithering).

Check this out:

There are days when outside your window, I see my reflection as I slowly pass
And I long for this mirrored perspective, when we'll be lovers, lovers at last
You gotta spend some time--love, you gotta spend some time with me
And I know that you'll find--love, I will possess your heart(x2)



Excellent. I stare at you window dreaming of doing sexy things to you while possibly touching myself and mentally perseverate over the idea of emotionally owning you.

If this song were a picture, it could be any number of Kurt Halsley drawing. This is not a dis. I think he is talented and I like his work. I would love to own a piece (physically, not emotionally) but I waited too long and he skyrocketed.

While Death Cab sings about a mostly emotional stalking, Sting sings about a more cold hearted, old fashioned kind of stalking. Look here:

Oh, cant you see
You belong to me
Now my poor heart aches
Every step you take

Every move you make
Every vow you break
Every smile you fake
Every claim you stake
I'll be watching you.



While some heart related emotion does get mentioned, this song feels much more about physical stalking. Sting is hiding in the bushes with a tiny notepad writing down your every move. If only you'd noticed him more, he wouldn't have to stalk you. If only you noticed him more, you could get a restraining order.

So, depending on your personal style of stalking the human being of your desire, you have two songs to motivate you. If you're not into that, you have two songs to enjoy the beats and be simultaneously creeped out by.

Third

I like my music to either add a cinematic quality to my day or make me happy. The new Portishead album does both. I bought it yesterday, a grey rainy spring day that brought a mist over the hills. I was angry about something that had happened at work the day before and on my way to get fingerprinted. The off-kilter insistent beats of Silence paired perfectly with Beth Gibbons' vocals.

The whole album makes me happy because it's been so long since Portishead has done anything. I remember the first time I heard them play was on Saturday Night Live, back in high school. I was 16, and my Metallica-loving boyfriend and I scoffed at the weird broken song. It was "Only You". I heard it again a couple of years later and it rocked my world.

I sought out more of their music and then became a fan of trip hop in general. UNKLE, Massive Attack, Sneaker Pimps, yum. Trip hop is good for adding a cinematic sound track to your freshman year if you are a Philosophy major looking at everything as a question and learning to smoke.

I really appreciate that Third is definitely Portishead, but the sound has grown up. (Maybe not the right phrase, but it sounds more mature and ten years are past, so that makes it grown up for me.) It's like some of the later Radiohead albums that evolve but are still clearly their music.

This is an album that definitely needs to be bought and listened to on a rainy day is bed with a book and red wine or your beautiful but tragic lover who will only hurt you in the end.




This is not on Third (could only find the NPR link), but another one of my favorite songs.